Does bad medical writing impact public health?
Bad medical writing impacts public health by keeping information exclusive, by obfuscating facts that should be clear and easy to understand and by spreading untruths that offer false hope to sick people.
Archaic words
Medical writer Tim Albert reports that because medical journals are read around the world, “the style is based on the vocabulary ... of the classical languages of southern Europe. So those with a grounding in Latin and Greek find 'commence and terminate' easier to understand than 'start and stop.'”
Pretentious language
Albert believes that the pretentious language used by many medical writers also keeps information from being disseminated. “A second — and related — reason is that ‘bad writing’ makes [medical] journals exclusive. This makes the content more private, which in turn allows a relatively small — and stable — number of insiders to acquire status and power.”
Few standards
Even though it’s clear that medical journals have increased the public’s understanding of medicine and medical subjects, Albert adds, “The real cause for concern is not that authors write badly, but that our current medical publishing system doesn’t really require them to write better.”
Self-promotion
An article by Otis Brawley, special to CNN, brings another type of bad medical writing to the forefront. Pharmaceutical companies and manufacturers of medical tools and equipment are presenting research reports that are sponsored by their own industry.
Misinformation
Says Brawley: “This combination of scientists and businessmen enthusiastically promoting products or themselves with sales pitches, and inexperienced reporters struggling to make sense of their claims, has led to some unfortunate articles.”
Cures that don't exist
Brawley cites in the article that some businessmen have claimed “a cure for breast cancer was on the horizon and a blood test was coming to market that could detect lung cancer early and save lives.” This information was premature and incorrect, yet respected newspapers printed the information exactly as the businessmen wished and without the restraint needed in a medical breakthrough that would impact public health so profoundly.
